James Clark
The Green Parrot is every bit a painting of the aesthetic movement. A beautiful Middle Eastern girl, with her exotic features, plaited hair and sensual robes stands casually against a wall. The subject of the painting is named in the title - the green parrot the girl is holding, but this alludes to the colour harmonies that are carried throughout the composition. The subtle whites and creams plaster wall and her silvery muslin top serve as a backdrop to the golden silk gown with its light blue trim, the vibrant mustard head-dress, lime sash and olive plant which all echo the harmonies of the parrot’s plumage.
James Clark is perhaps best known for his painting The Great Sacrifice (1914), which depicts a young soldier dead on the battlefield beneath a vision of Christ on the Cross. The painting was bought by Queen Mary, the wife of George V and when it was illustrated in ‘The Graphic’ newspaper it had an immediate appeal to the public and prints were snapped up by churches, schools, and mission halls. One reviewer stated that the print had turned railway bookstalls into wayside shrines. Framed copies were hung in churches next to Rolls of Honour, and clergymen gave sermons on the theme of the painting.
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